It has not been a great start to the season for Arsenal, there is no doubt about that. And after all the talk of how important it was for the Gunners not to repeat our start of last season when we let Jose Mourinho´s Chelsea build an unassailable lead before we even got going, it does feel like we have blown it again.
Considering how well the team has been playing since January, it is even more disappointing, but a lot of that feeling comes because of the great expectations we had and in the cold light of day, I think there are good reasons for Arsenal fans to be feeling fairly positive as we head into the international break.
For one thing, we have only lost one game, no matter how much of a shock it was. And although we have yet to really click into gear, we have played some great stuff at Crystal Palace and we should have beat Liverpool with a superb goal worked by Cazorla and Ramsey, while also being denied an early goal from the penalty spot yesterday that would have changed the shape of the game.
Another big reason for us not to feel too bad is the way that our rivals have struggled as well, with Liverpool and Chelsea behind us in the table and with much bigger problems than we have. United´s poor performances so far were exposed as well today and surely Arsenal can only get better and start to play as we know they can.
So with Ozil, Wilshere and Welbeck set to be available after the break and the rest of the Gunners to have two weeks to get the slow start out of their system and come back firing on all cylinders, I think we can look forward to much better from two weeks on.
Man City are a worry, for sure, but we are still just five points behind them and as long as we do not let that gap keep getting bigger, then I believe that we can really give them a run for their money. City may be looking unstoppable right now but they do tend to be inconsistent. Even in the two seasons when they won the title they lost some strange games and had little runs when they did not look like the same team.
So let´s keep positive shall we and have faith that Arsenal will hit top form very soon and challenge for that EPL trophy.